Eberly News

PE Limited is extending its partnership with West Virginia University to ensure students and faculty in the University’s geology and engineering programs have access to the company’s advanced energy production modeling tools.

The company’s latest in-kind software gift — worth more than $6.5 million — benefits academics and research within the geology program at the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences. “Our graduate students will be able to learn how to carry out state-of-the-art modeling of subsurface structures in a way that enhances their understanding of the Earth processes and better prepares them for their future careers in science or industry,” Jaime Toro, professor of geology. 

With World Book Day approaching on April 23, the founding director of the West Virginia University Center for Prison Education and Research says reading can be a lifeline for incarcerated people. 

Katy Ryan, Eberly Family Professor of Outstanding Teaching at the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, is available to discuss the impact of access to literature on those serving time in correctional facilities.

In her work with the Appalachian Prison Book Project, Ryan has helped ensure that more than 70,000 free books have reached people imprisoned in West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and Maryland since 2004.

Each year, at the direction of the Office of the Provost, the Academic Advising Council selects honorees for the Nicholas Evans Awards for Advising Excellence in recognition of outstanding advising and mentoring provided by faculty and professional advisers at WVU. The 2026 recipients from Eberly College include Carolyn Kitchens, teaching associate professor from the C. Eugene Bennett Department of Chemistry and the Department of Biology; and Mikel “Micky” Holcomb, associate professor from the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

An experienced administrator, researcher and educator will join the West Virginia University leadership team as the inaugural Linda and Don Brodie Dean of the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest academic unit.

To the casual observer, the fish doesn’t look like much. It certainly doesn’t look like a zebra, despite its name. It’s an unassuming minnow, small, pale and darting. But to Eric Horstick and his students at West Virginia University, it offers an incomparable, unobstructed view of the mysteries of human brains and behaviors.

WVU graduate students are advancing research with WVU Foundation scholarship support. Recipients of the WVUF Distinguished Doctoral Scholarship from Eberly College of Arts and Sciences include: Destinee Harper, Esha Azhar, Ciara Rodriguez, and Jailyn Wilson.

Nearly 70 years ago,  West Virginia University welcomed Ruey Yuan Lin and prepared him for a successful career as a research scientist. His son is now showing his gratitude with a generous gift to aid education, outreach and life-changing experiences for future students in his father’s honor.

The bunny trail might just start at the cross, according to a West Virginia University religious studies expert.

While many assume egg hunts and the Easter Bunny have pagan origins, Aaron Gale, associate professor in the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, explains how modern scholars came to believe that Easter’s secular symbols may have come from Christianity.

In recognition of her dedication to and exceptional teaching of writing, Catherine Gouge, a professor in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Department of English, is the 2025-26 recipient of the Caperton Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Writing.

Each spring, WVU recognizes selected faculty members for their exceptional and innovative teaching.  This year, WVU Foundation Awards for Outstanding Teaching honor two faculty members in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences: Erin Brock Carlson, associate professor in the Department of English and Cody Hood, teaching assistant professor in the School of Mathematical and Data Sciences.